


The Quest for the Golden Rings of Eros

by CartoonNerd12



Category: Haikyuu!!, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime), ダイヤのA | Daiya no A | Ace of Diamond, 弱虫ペダル | Yowamushi Pedal
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Friendship, Love, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21866767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CartoonNerd12/pseuds/CartoonNerd12
Summary: A fantasy crossover with Yuri on Ice, Haikyuu, Ace of Diamond, and Yowamushi Pedal. Yuuri, Hinata, Sawamura, and Onoda go on a quest to find the Golden Rings of Eros for Yuuri to prove himself to King Victor. Will they succeed or will they fail?
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Miyuki Kazuya/Sawamura Eijun, Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky
Kudos: 5





	1. Prologue

A noble, a mage, a knight, and a dragon rider sat around a campfire discussing their pasts.

The mage expressed, "A wizard about the same height as me saved my village so I want be just like him, problem is my magic isn't as strong as his was so I'm trying my hardest to train every day."

The knight declared, "Yeah I feel the same way! I want to be the top knight and go on many missions!"

The dragon rider admitted with embarrassment, "I'm not really looking to be the best of anything. I just want to ride dragons with my friends all day long."

The noble smiled at them, "I can't thank you enough for doing this, I know it'll be dangerous but I have admired him for so long that I feel this is the only way I'll get ahead and hopefully he'll accept it."

The mage proclaimed, "Hey if it helps us gain experience in the outside world and prove ourselves at the same time then I'm all for it!"

"Me too!" the knight cheered.

The noble kept smiling but he hoped he made the right choice after all.


	2. Chapter 1

The royal capital gleamed in all it's glory as the symbol that united the four clans of nobility, wizardry, knighthood, and dragon riding. And the king who ruled this magnificent place was King Victor Nikiforov who was just and kind making him beloved by the people. This included a young Prince Yuuri Katsuki who grew up watching him with admiration and respect. But as time went on he feared he would never gain the king's attention and rumors started floating around that Victor would should chose a spouse to share his throne with. Yuuri knew then there was hardly any time left and had to think of the perfect betrothal gift to get him.

The 23-year-old walked around the castle grounds next to Seidou Hall till he spotted the knights training particularly a rambunctious boy that was riding a horse and using bolas on a dummy. He let out an obnoxious laugh after succeeding causing his fellow trainees to smack him making him stop.

The captain of the trainee squad called out, "Oi, Sawamura! Don't start thinking you can do that all the time! After all you've yet to hit a moving target!"

The boy shouted, "You just had to ruin the moment, Miyuki Kazuya!"

The two started bickering as the knight, Sir Chris went up to the prince.

"He's been practicing that for awhile and has shown vast improvement."

Yuuri nodded and asked, "Think he'll be ready to go on a mission soon?"

"Hm, not quite yet, it's like Miyuki said, he's yet to hit a moving target and he still needs to work on welding his sword."

"Ah, I see."

Suddenly an explosion occurred at Karasuno Tower and smoke followed. The two quickly ran to see what happened. The mages that occupied the place had vacated as Yuuri questioned, "Is everyone alright?"

"We're okay." Daichi replied, "Just had a small mishap with casting a spell."

Kageyama pointed to the tattered redhead next to him, "This dumbass didn't memorize the spell right."

Hinata retorted, "That's because you made me nervous by trying to correct me when I was doing just fine on my own!"

Chris mentioned to the older mage, "Well that's good, I know Eijun would be upset if you got hurt."

Daichi pointed, "My cousin's got nothing to worry about. After all we train long and hard to make sure nothing goes wrong within the castle."

Just then three giant shadows loomed over them and they looked up to see three dragons and their riders. The one with the yellow dragon named Onoda asked in concern, "Are you guys okay?"

Naruko on his red dragon stated, "We saw the smoke a few miles away!"

Sugawara called up to them, "We're fine! No one got hurt!"

Izumida on his blue dragon said, "Good." and told his companions, "We should get back to the others now."

They agreed and flew off.

Hinata looked on in awe and said, "I'll never get tired of watching them. They are so amazing."

"Then maybe you should join them instead." Kageyama snarled.

That caused the two to fight while Yuuri was trying to calm down from the dragons showing up. He knew they were for long distance missions and were great defense to the capital but they were still scary to have around.

By then Prince Yuri Plisetsky came up to him and said, "Oi, katsudon. Victor wants to see you."

Yuuri sucked in his breath. Victor wanted to see him? But why?

Hinata heard that midfight and gawked, "Whoa! A summons from the king! That's so cool!"

Yuri replied, "It's just a formality, nothing to get excited about."

Yuuri exhaled and uttered, "Right, of course…"

Of course Victor would not want to see him personally. There's no reason he would, he wasn't anything special since there were tons of nobility more regal than he was. With a sigh he said his farewell to the others and followed Yuri.

* * *

Yuuri stopped in front of the large golden decorated doors and his hands shook as they reached for the handles. With a deep breath he opened them up and entered the throne room.

Victor sat on his throne with his poodle right at his feet, when he saw who entered he smiled, "Ah, Yuuri, glad you could make it!"

Yuuri blushed as he bowed, "Your Highness."

"Please Yuuri, none of that it's just us at the moment."

Yuuri kept his head down as he uttered, "Victor…"

The king sighed and walked to him and lifted his chin surprising the younger man.

"Yuuri, why is it you never look me in the eye?"

The prince gapped and couldn't say a word as he looked straight into Victor's icy blue eyes. Finally he sputtered out, "I-I… I don't deserve to look at you…"

"Now why would you say that?"

"Because you're an amazing king and I'm just a lowly prince that's not worthy to be in your presence." he said while stepping away.

"Hmm, that's distressing for you to say that."

"But it's true."

"Goodness Yuuri, you certainly know how to sell yourself short. Is your confidence really that low?"

"Why did you ask me here?"

"Yes about that…" he sat back on the throne, "You have no doubt heard the rumors, well I am going to tell you that they are true."

Yuuri felt his heart sink when Victor said that.

"As it is I have been looking at several candidates and have gotten offers but I wanted your opinion in the matter. Do you truly feel you're not worthy of me?"

Yuuri could only nod.

"I see… Then I want to make a deal with you. If you can find a way to prove yourself to me within two weeks I will take you as my consort."

Yuuri gasped, he couldn't have heard that right. Did Victor just say he would take him as his spouse if he was able to prove himself worthy?

Victor smiled again, "You heard me right, Yuuri. It is you I want by my side but only if you want it just as much."

"I'll do it! I will prove myself worthy!" the prince declared as he ran out of room.

Yuuri shed happy tears while he ran. He had a chance, an actual chance to be with Victor. Now the question was, how was he going to do it? He went straight to the library.

Meanwhile in the great hall, Sawamura was eating lunch with his friends, Haruichi and Furuya going over how morning practice went when a hand ruffled his head and looked up to see his mage cousin and his friends as they sat next to them.

Daichi said with a laugh, "Heard you were being a pain again."

"I was not!"

Haruichi bluntly replied, "You were."

Eijun grumbled under his breath, "It's not my fault. I got plenty of energy to give but I'm never allowed on a single mission!" Miyuki while passing by with Kuramochi pinched his face, saying, "That's because you're much of an idiot to handle it."

"Hey! I could so!"

"You tell him, Eijun!" Hinata encouraged.

Kageyama grinded his hand into the redhead, "You're one to talk, dumbass. You still haven't perform the ball of light spell right, you're not ready for what's out there yet."

"Well I could if you would stop pestering me every single time!"

Daichi motioned, "Now that's enough of that. Hinata does have a point, Kageyama, but also Kageyama is right about you not being ready. But I'm sure with the right amount of practice you will be a great mage." he turned to Sawamura, "And the same goes for you little cousin, with practice and humility, you'll be a wonderful knight."

Sawamura grinned and patted his back rather roughly, "Thanks cousin! You always know what to say!"

Daichi coughed, "You're- welcome!"

Miyuki stated, "That maybe so, but until that happens, you're stuck on where you are and that means working drills for the rest of the day and the week."

"Aw come on!" he pouted.

Hinata ended up pouting too.

* * *

When they were done eating they filed out of there and Sawamura and Hinata told their friends they would catch up soon and began talking to each other.

"How are we supposed to get better if they keep holding us back?" Hinata voiced out.

"I know right! Miyuki always discourages me… He'll never take me seriously."

"Kageyama is the same way, I just wish there was a way to show them they're wrong about us."

By then they were about to pass the library and Yuuri was looking through a big old book as he went out and they end up bumping into him, making him drop it.

"Sorry!" both boys apologized.

Yuuri assured them, "It's fine, don't worry." he bended down.

They saw the open page and Sawamura questioned, "What's the 'Golden Rings of Eros'?"

Yuuri explained, "Legendry rings that bind two people to have eternal happiness together, but it's a dangerous quest to get to them."

"Really?!" the two had stars in their eyes.

"It is and… I was actually going to ask Sir Chris and Daichi to help me with it."

"What?!" both shouted, "You're going to go and get the rings?!"

Yuuri nodded, "It's my way to prove to Victor I can be his consort."

The boys gawked for awhile before they started begging on their knees, "Please! Let us come with you!"

Yuuri was taken aback by this, "But boys, you're still in training and-"

"We want to prove ourselves too!" they pleaded, "Please!"

Yuuri gulped, they looked so desperate and well it reminded him of himself a bit, thinking it over maybe it would be good for them to experience what they'll be in for in the future. He then said, "Alright, but I have a condition, if things get too rough for you, we're going to come back. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" they smiled.

Yuuri sighed, "Alright then, we got work to do."

Hinata motioned, "And the next thing to do is recruit a dragon rider!"

"Yeah!" Sawamura agreed.

Yuuri hesitated but Hinata did make a good point and knowing who would be best for the job, they went off to find him.

* * *

"Uh?! You want me to come with you?" Onoda asked.

"You're one of the best dragon riders there is." Hinata said.

Yuuri implored, "Please Onoda, you know your way around the mountains and that's where we need to go to find the rings. Please, won't you come with us?"

Onoda was stunned for a bit before he made a determined look and bowed, "I shall do my best!"

The three smiled as they began to prepare to leave that night.


	3. Chapter 2

"Sir! There's no sign of him!" Miyuki reported to the head knight, Sir Kataoka in the great hall that morning.

"Hm, that's very troublesome."

Mage Ukai came up to them, "Are you missing someone too? We can't find one of our trainees."

Dragon Rider Leader Pierre joined, "Interesting, we're missing someone from our group too."

Baron Christophe Giacometti also joined in, "How fascinating, we happen to be missing a noble. The king has had his guards looking for him all morning, but there's no trace of him."

From behind Pierre, Naruko started crying out loud, "You don't think it was a kidnapping do you?! Not Onoda! Anyone but Onoda!"

Captain Kinjou wrapped an arm around the redhead, "Calm yourself, Naruko, we don't know that for sure…"

Makishima mentioned, "His dragon is missing too, so I don't think it was a kidnapping."

Sugimoto held his hand up, "Um, I don't know if this will help but I remember seeing Onoda talking to three people yesterday in the parlor. I don't know what they were talking about but it sounded important."

The four adults glanced at each other, with Ukai asking, "Do you think…?"

The Baron commented, "I say it's highly possible."

As they continued speculation, Suga noticed Kageyama looking forlorn by a wall and went to him.

The raven haired boy questioned, "Sugawara, do you think I was the reason Hinata left?"

Suga was taken aback by this and said, "No, it would take more than that for Hinata to leave us. If anything it's possible he went with the other missing people we just don't know why."

Suddenly there was a clap and the king stepped in. Everyone quickly bowed in respect.

Victor announced, "Since it seems not only is a member of my court is missing but also three trainees from each of the clans is gone as well. So the only solution is to use the crystal ball."

Ukai inquired, "You're sure, Your Majesty? We can only use it once every year and it's helped us prevent crisises from happening."

"True, but the way I see it this is a crisis as lives hang in the balance so please, get the ball."

Ukai nodded and left. When he finally came back he presented the large crystal ball to his king as Victor took it and asked into the ball, "Show us where they are."

The ball glowed and an image began to form of four people riding a yellow dragon as it made it's way to the mountain peaks.

"Well the good news is they're all together but they are heading for the mountains."

"Why would they…?" Daichi started but stopped when Yuri came in carrying an open book and went to the king.

"Found this in his room."

Victor looked at the page and uttered to himself, "Oh Yuuri, I knew you would try your hardest but this… this beyond what I imagined." He then turned to the clan leaders, "My apologies, it would seem Prince Yuuri has recruited your young members for help on a quest he wishes to complete at my expense."

"Actually Your Majesty, I think it's the other way around." Miyuki spoke up.

The mages and dragon riders agreed.

Miyuki kept explaining, "We know those boys personally and it's no doubt they volunteered for this."

Imaizumi noted, "Though with Onoda I'm sure it's because he couldn't refuse a request for help."

"They're stubborn and reckless like that." Sir Chris said.

Victor had to smirk behind his hand, muttering, "That sounds like Yuuri all right."

Daichi pointed, "They're going to be determined to finish this quest no matter what."

"Is that so? Well then I guess we have no choice but to go after them."

Kataoka nodded, "Of course, sire, I'll have my best men get them and-"

"That won't be necessary, as I believe we must go after them at their own pace. So as it is I will need a dragon rider, a mage, and a knight of my own."

Yuri slowly said, "Wait… does that mean…?" his eyes widen.

Victor grinned, "That's right, I'm going to go too."

" _WHAT?!_ " Everyone gasped out.

"Your Majesty! You can't be serious!"

"I hear what you're saying, Sir Kataoka but I'm afraid this has become personal for Prince Yuuri Katsuki is my intended betrothed but he refuses to marry me until he proves himself to me. As such he's after the Golden Rings of Eros."

There were gasps from the adults while the teens were confused.

Ukai said, "To complete such a quest is foolhardy… They need to be stopped!"

"Ah, all the more reason I need to go, they will never refuse an order from the king."

"But Your Highness, we can't chance it, if you leave you'll be in danger-"

Victor held his hand up, "I'm aware of the risks but I don't care. This kingdom won't have a future if I don't have a consort and I refuse to have anyone but Yuuri."

The crowd was in awe of his declaration, as the baron mumbled out, "Oh poo, guess this means I lost my chance…"

Yuri heard that and replied, "Somehow I don't think you had one in the first place."

"And that hurts even more…"

Victor then said, "With that said, Yuri be a good boy and watch the capital will you?"

"Wait what?! You want me to be in charge?! Are you crazy?!"

The man just smiled and patted the teen's shoulder, "I have in faith in you, so don't worry, you'll do great."

Yuri was flabbergasted before he muttered in agreement.

"Now all I need are my mage, dragon rider, and knight and I'll be all set."

"Your Highness!" Kageyama declared and was bowing on all fours, "Please take me with you!"

Miyuki had kneeled and held his sword out, "Your Highness, I wish to go too."

Imaizumi and Naruko bowed their heads, "Your Highness, take us with you, please!"

Victor was impressed and was touched, "My, what eager lads you are but I assume it's because the boys Yuuri is with are your closet friends, yes?"

The Dragon Riders and Kageyama agreed while Miyuki responded, "Something like it, it's mostly so I can punish him firsthand for pulling this kind of stunt."

"Ah… I see, well then you're more than welcome to come." he turned to the other three, "You too."

They smiled at the king while everyone else around them was concerned.

But with the king's final words the leaders had no choice but to obey.

* * *

They spent the rest of day preparing as Imaizumi and Naruko got their dragons ready and Kageyama was given spells from his friends that could help him. Miyuki was given advice of how to deal with Sawamura when he found him.

Victor changed into traveling clothes with a cloak and approached Imaizumi's dragon to pet it.

The owner bowed, "I promise you will stay safe with me, Your Majesty."

"I'm sure I will."

Miyuki joined them as Kageyama went to Naruko's dragon.

They saddled onto the blue and red dragons respectfully as everyone saw them off.

Daichi, Chris, and Kinjou wished their members the best of luck and told them to watch over the king. While Yuri told Victor, "You better not die, old man."

The 27-year-old said with a smile, "I won't. But… on the off chance I do, the kingdom is yours."

"Don't say stuff like that! Just come back with or without that piggy prince!"

"But I will come back with him, that's a promise."

Yuri just sighed and shook his head.

Both Naruko and Imaizumi signaled their dragons to go and they flew up into the sky.


	4. Chapter 3

Sawamura left out a joyful cry as he and Hinata held their heads high and stretched their arms out while feeling the wind around them on the back of Onoda's dragon. They had been flying like this since this morning and it hasn't gotten tiring one bit.

Yuuri was behind them trying his hardest not to lose his nerve while in the front Onoda was smiling brightly. The young dragon rider had always loved riding dragons since he was little and it just made him smile every single time.

Hinata exclaimed, "This is so awesome!"

"Yeah!" Sawamura shouted.

Onoda laughed until suddenly his dragon let out a whimper and Onoda touched her head in concern, asking, "What is it, Hime?" his connection to the dragon allowed him to sense his surroundings and all of a sudden he felt a strong presence approaching them and he looked back with wide eyes of his two best friends chasing after them, he let out a panicked yell causing the others to look back and yelled too.

"Crap! They found us!" Eijun yelped, and could see from the distance of Miyuki's piercing gaze making him gulp.

Hinata could also see Kageyama's dark aura from afar and the raven haired boy even shouted out his name and bellowed out, "YOU DUMBASS WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Yuuri on the other hand had his breath taken away at the sight of Victor riding on the blue dragon and he could see that the king wasn't making any emotion making him think, _Is he mad at me for leaving the castle without him knowing? But still he came after me… But why? Why would he? I don't understand! I'm trying to prove myself but if he's going to stop me… No! I can't let that happen!_

Onoda asked over his shoulder, "Yuuri, what should we do?"

The man looked at the worried looks in front of him and said, "I want to apologize for putting you in this position but if you are still willing, would you help me finish this quest?"

The boys slowly smiled at him and agreed without a second thought.

Yuuri smiled back, "Thank you." then he made a determined look, stating, "We have to hurry and get away, Onoda can you go faster?"

"Hime and I are trying, but it would only be a matter of time before they'll catch up."

Hinata's eyes lit up and piped up, "I got it!" and he put his hands up and started chanting a spell as it slowly surrounded the dragon.

The pursuers saw this with confusion but Kageyama voiced out, "No, what is that idiot doing…?"

Naruko questioned, "What is it?"

"He's casting a spell to make the dragon go faster but that idiot hasn't had enough practice to do it!"

Before they knew it, the spell was complete and without warning the dragon lightspeeded away and was gone in a blink of an eye.

The group was shocked from the impact, Kageyama especially, he didn't think Hinata had it in him like that.

Victor commented with a bewildered look, "Well that's certainly going to be a problem."

* * *

Miles and miles away, the spell had wore off after Hime had crashed onto a forest floor feeling very dizzy and sick and the same went to her passengers as they threw up from the speed they went.

Yuuri moaned, "Can we agree… to never do that… again?" he felt another puke coming on and spewed into the bushes.

Hinata groaned, "I'm sorry… everyone…" while lying on the ground, clutching his stomach.

Sawamura laid next to him and panted, "At least… we got away…"

Onoda cuddled up to Hime and rubbed her head.

Once the motion sickness finally sustained, the four sat together as Onoda said, "Hime still needs time to recover so what should we do in the meantime?"

Yuuri pondered on it as he stated, "Well we should see if a town is nearby so we can eat and rest for the night."

Sawamura jumped up and declared, "I'll scout ahead to see!" he went off in a direction before a moment later he ended up circling back. He sheepishly rubbed his neck, "Yeah, I think we're lost…"

Hinata suggested, "Maybe I can cast a tracking spell."

Yuuri asked, "Are you sure? You must tired after that last spell."

"Not at all! I got plenty of power left!" he turned around and chanted again as white mist surrounded them making a line.

The mist went northeast giving them a clear course of where to go.

Onoda assured Hime, "We'll be back soon, okay?"

The dragon nodded and used her tongue to lick her owner causing him to giggle. Then the four set out.

Meanwhile, miles back, Kageyama was using the tracking spell too as he mumbled, "That moron, how far did he go?"

Naruko whistled, "Wow, they really covered some distance there didn't they?"

Miyuki heard that and commented, "Which makes our job a lot harder."

Victor proclaimed, "If we haven't caught to them by nightfall then we'll just have to stop and make camp."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

Kageyama grunted, "He better not use too much of his power before then."

"Why?" the redhead asked, "What's wrong if he does?"

"Hinata's magic is raw right now. It's too unpredictable and it needs to be tame, that's why it was so stupid for him to go on this quest. He needs more control on his power or else he dangers himself and everyone else around him."

"Like with that explosion the other day?"

"Exactly."

There was a long pause till Naruko said, "You really care for him, don't you…"

The mage kept quiet until he admitted, "Of course I do… he's my best friend or something like that…"

"Hey I hear you, me and hotshot over there may not get along much but our bond with Onoda and love for dragon riding makes us friends though we don't care to admit it."

Kageyama made a small chuckle then got serious again to keep focusing on the spell.

* * *

Back at the capital, life continued on without the king and the clans adjusted to the absence of their members.

Sugawara was feeding his crow familiar bread crusts and Daichi did the same while next to their tower. Suga questioned, "Think Hinata and Kageyama will be alright with the magic they have now?"

"Well Kageyama will be fine thanks to his previous training, but Hinata… it's uncertain… He came to us with such raw talent and he had to train on his own before that Kageyama had to teach him the basics of taming his power level."

"It certainly makes sense that he felt responsible for him and why he begged the king to let him come along."

Then to their right, girls in white dresses were chatting and giggling as they carried various items. They were considered the clans' attendants and two of them broke from the group to approach Suga and Daichi with smiles.

"Sugawara-san, Daichi-san." The young blonde said holding out her basket of apples, "I got a fresh stock for the barrel."

Suga chuckled, "Good, Yachi. I know that will make everyone happy since magic always takes a great amount of energy."

The older brunette beside her smiled too and addressed Daichi, "I got a message from Michimiya within maid headquarters. She will expect you at eight in the gardens."

"Got it, thank you Kiyoko."

"Now that's done, I got to put away this laundry. Coming Yachi?"

"Uh, right!"

They got inside the tower and immediately Nishinoya and Tanaka came to them with puppy dog eyes and volunteered to help Kiyoko. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were close by preparing a potion, the latter watched Yachi as she was putting the apples in the large barrel by tiptoeing but she was losing her footing and the tall boy quickly caught her making them lock gazes.

She uttered, "T-thank you…" she blushed.

He made a small blush too as he stammered, "It's… it's no problem."

Behind them Tsukki shook his head in amusement. He knew his best friend had a crush on the attendant since she joined them but he hadn't had the courage to say so.

Once Yamaguchi helped her fill the barrel they exchanged words before he went back to Tsukki with a sigh.

"You are so hopeless…" the blonde boy stated.

"I know…" he looked down.

"But as it is, your chance will come."

"You really think so?"

"Sure. I've been watching and the feeling is mutual between you two."

"Oh Tsukki!" he hugged the stoic boy, "What would I do without you?!"

The mage just sighed and patted his friend's back.

Meanwhile, Haruno, Yui, Sachiko, and Takako the four attendants for Seidou Hall carried supplies to the training grounds before Haruno ended up tripping and the contents of her load spilled all over making the other girls sigh.

"I'm sorry!" she shouted and quickly went to clean her mess.

Takako started helping and said, "It's fine, at least nothing broke."

Once everything was picked up, they continued on.

Sir Chris and Sir Yuki Tetsuya were waiting for them and instructed them where they had to deliver such of the supplies to.

Haruno was assigned to Kuramochi, Haruichi, and Furuya. She managed to spot them dueling nearby with Haruichi's older brother, Sir Kominato Ryosuke training them. She approached them with rags, polisher, and a bucket of water.

They saw her and stopped what they were doing and thanked her.

While taking their break, Haruno asked in concern, "Do you think Sawamura and Miyuki will be okay out there?"

"Of course they will!" Kuramochi proclaimed, "Miyuki is way too cunning to let anything happen to and Sawamura maybe an idiot but he's got the spunk and drive to make through any adversity, but don't you dare tell them that in the future. They don't need the praise to get even bigger heads."

Haruichi nodded, "Eijun will be fine."

"At least I can use the bolas more while he's gone." Furuya mentioned with a tiny smile on his face.

Ryo smirked, "Well that's one way to look on the bright side of all this."

They kept chatting for a bit before resuming their duel.

At the far end of the castle, one attendant approached a large building that held the stable for Sohoku clan's brand of dragons. Sure it was lonely being the only girl there but her love of dragons outweighed that since her older brother was a dragon rider and was the previous captain until he decided he was better suited to take care of the dragons and that in turn helped the riders.

Kanzaki Miki went inside the building to see her clan tending to their dragons and passed three empty stables, she looked them with a sigh as Makishima came to her, saying, "Yes, it's quite lonely without them isn't it?'

"I just hope it won't be too dangerous for them…" she voiced, "Especially for Onoda."

"Ah, don't worry about him, he's way tougher than he looks. He wouldn't have gone unless it was for a noble cause."

Tadokoro let out a boisterous laugh, "You would know, 'cause you were his mentor!"

The green-haired man sighed, "Yes, that's true…"

"But the same can be said for the red bean… I know he'll catch up in time."

Miki pointed, "Imaizumi too, he won't give up on catching Onoda."

Kinjou joined them, "Indeed he won't."

They recalled the trials and feats the young dragon riders had to overcome since they first came to them and now they were the best riders overall at the castle.

The captain admitted, "It was just as well they went with the king, they had always exceeded our expectations and they'll do it again no matter what."

They agreed as they went back to their duties unaware of a dark figure sneaking around outside and was leaving the castle.

The figure ended up in the village and went to a tavern where he met with someone in the shadows whispering, "King Victor is gone, he left this morning…"

"Really? How interesting… He's never once left the capital before what could have made him do that?"

"Well rumor is, is that he has chosen a betroth but that betroth has vanished and he went after him to get him back."

"Are you serious? That's all it took for him to go?"

"Strange isn't it? Not only that but he left Prince Yuri Pilsetsky in charge."

"What?! He's like the same age as us!" the person revealed himself as a spiky redhead with bulging eyes that made him look crazy.

"I know right? What was Victor Nikiforov thinking!"

"Hey if anything this makes things a lot easier for us. Ushijima will be pleased to hear this as well as our higher ups. You've done well."

The figure bowed, "Thank you sir."

"Now to begin the plans of seizing the capital…" he deviously grinned.


	5. Chapter 4

The town was fairly quiet and not many people were walking around is what the four travelers noticed till they found the local inn and went in. The boys sat down while Yuuri went to the innkeeper to get rooms. A waitress served them as they chatted amongst themselves wondering what awaited them on the journey. Yuuri came back to join them and questioned, "Do you know the legend behind the Rings?"

They shook their heads.

Yuuri explained, "Well it said that the God of Love, Eros had those rings made for him and his wife, Psyche right after her transformation into a goddess making their marriage all the happier and eternal, which is why I want those rings for me and the king. Not only to prove myself but to keep him happy with the choice he made in me."

Onoda gushed, "That's so sweet."

Sawamura pointed, "And that's why we had to get away from him recently so he couldn't stop us, right?"

"Exactly." the man took a sip.

Hinata asked, "What other legends do you know?"

"There are a few I know from my homeland but they're not very exciting. All I know about the legends surrounding the capital came from others. For example the story of a mystical sword waits for a master of great strength within their heart or that a sun god had descendants and some still exist to this day and it's the same for a snow god and that they were enemies to each other given how different they were."

"Sounds like how Kageyama and me started out. Because of our personalities and different skill sets we couldn't work together until we were force to though I think we still need to work on that…" Hinata sighed.

They kept chitchatting until three new travelers came through the door and spotted them, the oldest of them had a bright smile on his face as he called out, "Yuuri!"

The prince knew that voice and his own face lit up when seeing him.

"Phichit!"

As the three approached them, Hinata realized who else was there as he exclaimed, "Great Wizard!"

Oikawa Tooru smirked while his companion, Iwaizumi Hajime muttered under his breath, "I wish he wouldn't call you that…"

Oikawa addresses the redhead, "Well fancy seeing you again, Shorty."

"You know each other?" Phichit asked.

Hinata explained, "My clan met them last summer for a wizard's duel to strengthen our skills."

"Needless to say, we won." Oikawa smiled.

Hinata retorted, "We'll beat you next time! We've gotten a lot stronger since then!"

"Is that so? Well I certainly look forward to it."

Their attention was turned to the nobles as Yuuri inquired, "How did your meeting with King Jean Jacques go?"

Phichit sighed, "Took longer than expected… We had to perfect the details to the trade agreement and to find the right amount of profit that both parties could be satisfied with. Then when it was over these two were kind enough to see me home to the capital."

Oikawa spoke up, "Naturally with the days getting shorter and growing reports of bandits have been seen in these woods, we couldn't let a prince such as yourself get into danger."

Iwaizumi proclaimed, "It's our duty as royal mages to keep you safe from harm."

Phichit beamed, "Yes and I am grateful for that." then he frowned and turned to his friend, "But Yuuri, what are you and the boys doing here? Did something happen back home?"

"No, actually. It's um, well…" he blushed as he explained the entire story to them.

Phichit was gawking until his smile widen and shouted, "Oh my gosh, Yuuri! You and the king?! That's wonderful!"

"Well that depends… First I need to find the Golden Rings of Eros before we can get married."

They kept talking while Oikawa whispered, "I was wondering why your partner wasn't with you but now I see you're trying to prove something by going on this quest. Got fed up with how he kept you from your potential?"

Hinata looked down, replying, "I just want to show him that I can be a good mage."

The older boy scoffed, "Please, you have a power that's amazing that I care to admit, had you had better training you might have actually beaten us in that duel. Right, Iwa-chan?"

The other boy just sighed and shook his head, "Can't believe he told you that but it is the truth. We both saw an incredible magic from you that day and it would have been better had it not gone haywire."

Hinata was stunned to hear that and wondered, _Can it be? Is there more to my magic than I realize?_

Oikawa said, "Indeed, you could be on the same level as Kageyama hadn't he held you back."

Hinata let out a small gasp and his eyes welled, "He… did it on purpose?"

Iwaizumi mentioned, "I suspect no since in his apprenticeship with us in Kitagawa he was used to his own surroundings and wasn't good with human interaction. But we definitely saw a change in that last summer."

Oikawa gestured, "More like _you_ brought out the change to him, yes, he was working very well with rest of your clan but it was you he relied on most almost like he was clingy."

Hinata's cheeks tinted pink, "You… you really think that…?"

"Hey I'm just saying what I saw, but I could be wrong. Though I highly doubt that…"

Hinata became lost in thought, wondering if Kageyama was holding him back on purpose all this time and if so, why?

Phichit said to Yuuri, "Just be careful when you leave tomorrow, Mage Oikawa was right about the increase in bandits, we almost ran into one this morning so it was a close call. Also it's going to get colder as you go so stay warm as much as possible."

The other noble smiled, "I'll do that, thanks Phichit."

"I'm also concerned that you're running away from King Victor like this when its obvious he came after you because he cares about you!"

"I know… I saw that… but I was scared to face him and he was going to stop us, I had to do something."

"Hmm, I guess you're right."

"But I'm glad I ran into you before we get closer to the mountains tell me, what do you think the legend's riddle means by, 'The stronger the bond, the stronger the rings will glow and guide you to eternal happiness?''

Phichit touched his chin, "I couldn't say Yuuri. It's strange wording to begin with so figuring it out is hard."

"The only clue I have to the rings' whereabouts is that it's between earth and sky and that has to mean the mountain's peak."

"It's a good start, I hope they're there or else you've wasted a journey for nothing."

"Yeah… I'm not sure if I can face Victor if we came back empty-handed, especially after the stunt we pulled this afternoon. That's not good…"

"I'm sure the king will forgive you, it's no big deal."

Yuuri lowered his head, "I want to take your word for it but I worry he'll see me as a failure and won't consider me his consort anymore…" a tear welled in his eye and it flow down his cheek.

Suddenly he felt a thumb touch his cheek and he look up in shock to see Victor standing next to him!

"Victor!" he exclaimed and nearly fell off his chair, "How-" he looked around to find he was in a magical bubble while outside it Sawamura was running and screaming but he couldn't hear it as Miyuki was chasing after the boy all over the inn's dining hall making a mess as he went. Hinata was trying to sprint too but Kageyama had caught him with his own magic making the shorter boy float and his attempts of running away pathetic. Onoda was frozen in his seat while spouting out apologies to his friends as they faced in front of him.

Victor explained, "A surprise attack was the only way we could catch you."

Yuuri could see the stunned look on Phichit's face while Oikawa was amusingly watching Hinata and Kageyama.

Finally Miyuki had tackled Sawamura and carried him over his shoulder, making the other boy thrash around and he pounded his back, demanding, "Let me go!"

"Not a chance." Miyuki stated, unfazed by Sawamura brutal hits.

"Miyuki Kazuya! You put me down this instant!"

"Not until I get an order from the king."

Sawamura still struggled to get away but cursed Miyuki's strength.

The knight smirked, "Aw, am I too much for you Sawamura?"

"Shut up!"

Hinata begged with pleading eyes, "Baka, please…"

"No Hinata." the raven head firmly replied.

"But-but-but…" the redhead quivered.

Oikawa went to them, "See Shorty? I was right."

Kageyama glared at him, "Senpai… What are you doing here?"

"Long story short, I'm performing my duty as a mage to the Prince Phichit to get him home safely so we would have ended up seeing each other again regardless." he grinned.

Kageyama sighed and turned back to Hinata, "What did he say to you?"

Oikawa replied instead, "Just that you are purposely holding him back from his true magic."

Kageyama's eyes widen and sputtered, "I- That's stupid! Of course I'm not doing that!"

"Are you so sure? Maybe you think you aren't but really you are without realizing it."

"I'm not! Hinata just needs more practice!"

"But shouldn't I have a say in that?!" Hinata shouted.

"No dumbass! You're too stupid to understand how your power works!"

Oikawa nonchalantly waved his hand, "I rest my case."

Onoda calmed down once Imaizumi and Naruko told him they weren't upset at him only that they were worried and the boy apologized again before Naruko said, "We found Hime and she seems to be doing okay."

"Oh, that's a relief to hear."

They kept talking.

Yuuri asked with downcast eyes, "Are… are you going to make us come home?"

"That was the plan initially but since you're that determined to go after the Rings after risking yourself to disobey your king…" he eyed him.

The younger man gulped.

"So the only thing to do is to accompany you on this quest." he smiled.

Yuuri gasped, "Re-really? You'll do that?"

Victor nodded and tapped the bubble signaling Kageyama to drop it and told the boys, "As of now, we will join parties to go find the Rings of Eros."

Sawamura gasped in delight and Hinata cheered making a look to Kageyama who sighed and released his spell making the redhead fall on his butt with yelp causing him to yell at his partner.

Miyuki let Eijun down who had a smug look.

The older boy was quick to quip, "Enjoy it while it lasts but it just means you're stuck with me from this point on." he smirked evilly.

Sawamura's face immediately changed to dread and was cursing in his head.

Once everything was settled down and Victor paid for any damages that had happened, they had a quick dinner and went to their given rooms and everyone went to sleep.

And that night, Yuuri dreamt of the Golden Rings of Eros that shined brightly on a pillowed pedestal, he could feel their presence calling out to him. And in the next room over, a certain king was having the same dream…


End file.
